"Talking About Asia: The Late Prehistory of Northeast Asia" with Dr. Sungjoo Lee at Pitt, October 27.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and the Department of Anthropology present Dr. Sungjoo Lee, a professor of Archaeology and Anthropology at Kyungpook National University in South Korea and his talk "Talking About Asia: The Late Prehistory of Northeast Asia" on October 27.

How have nationalist interpretations of Northeast Asian archaeology impacted academic research in Asia? Professor Sungjoo Lee explores this critical question by analyzing the current conceptualization of the Bronze Age in Korea. Current research in population dynamics and relocation of Bronze Age settlements, the construction of monumental burials, and the development of cultural environments are rapidly changing these politically-charged interpretations. His own research will illustrate how center-periphery relations of Northeast Asia were impacted by the rapid and compressive cultural changes in the late prehistory of Korea across the region.

The talk will start at 4:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map), and is free and open to the public.

Cemetery of Splendor (รักที่ขอนแก่น), Mountains May Depart (山河故人) at 3 Rivers Film Fest in November.

The annual 3 Rivers Film Fest announced its complete 2015 lineup today, and it includes two Asian movies: Thailand's Cemetery of Splendour (รักที่ขอนแก่น) and China's Mountains May Depart (山河故人). A summary of 2015's Cemetery of Splendour, from the 3RFF site:

Soldiers with a mysterious sleeping sickness are transferred to a temporary clinic in a former school. The memory-filled space becomes a revelatory world for housewife and volunteer Jenjira, as she watches over Itt, a handsome soldier with no family visitors. Jen befriends young medium Keng who uses her psychic powers to help loved ones communicate with the comatose men. Doctors explore ways, including colored light therapy, to ease the men’s troubled dreams. Jen discovers Itt’s cryptic notebook of strange writings and blueprint sketches. There may be a connection between the soldiers’ enigmatic syndrome and the mythic ancient site that lies beneath the clinic. Magic, healing, romance, and dreams are all part of Jen’s tender path to a deeper awareness of herself and the world around her.

And of 2015's Mountains May Depart, from a review in The Guardian:

[The] movie is split into three parts, taking place in 1999, in 2014 and in 2025. We begin with a bunch of people dancing to the Pet Shop Boys’ Go West, and as the new century and millennium dawns, the movie shows China more or less obsessed with doing that: going West, embracing capitalism while at the same retaining the monolithic state structures of the past, and beginning to worship consumer goods as status symbols: stereos, cars, and perhaps most importantly mobile phones — a technology which the film shows retaining its fetishistic power for the next quarter-century.

Both films will have two screenings, starting on November 7. The festival runs from November 6 through November 15 at five theaters around Pittsburgh. Showtimes and ticket information are available at the 3RFF website.

Sushi Kim to close after 25 years.

The Pittsburgh Business Times writes on Wednesday that Sushi Kim, one of only a handful of restaurants in Pittsburgh with a Korean menu, will close after 25 years in the Strip District.

[Real estate director David Glickman] described Sushi Kim as one of the early purveyors of sushi in Pittsburgh.

“That’s a long run that they’ve had,” he said. “Not many restaurants in Pittsburgh are successful for 25 years.”

Yong Kim, the owner of the restaurant, is selling so that he can retire, said Glickman.

Sushi Kim is located at 1241 Penn Ave. on the west edge of the Strip District (map) and was voted the best sushi in Pittsburgh by readers of the Pittsburgh City Paper in 2003.

"How Pittsburgh is Growing America's Next Great Chinatown".

Sign from Pittsburgh's Chinatown bus station. The remnants of Pittsburgh's former Chinatown are downtown.

Food critic Melissa McCart of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes for Saveur that Pittsburgh's Chinese student population is leading to an improve Chinese restaurant scene. Today's article borrows from McCart's July 9 Post-Gazette piece and profiles the people behind Everyday Noodles, Sakura, and Chengdu Gourmet, three restaurants in Squirrel Hill.

Pittsburgh sits at the gateway to the Midwest and the crux of the Appalachian mountains, with more bridges than Venice, a vibrant arts community, and a growing restaurant scene. But the city has not been known for its national diversity, with a 2010 census showing that only 4 percent of residents were born abroad.

That's changing now as schools like University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne University, and Point Park University are attracting more international students from Asia—especially China. Five years ago, Pittsburgh universities counted under 1,000 Chinese students in their undergraduate and graduate programs combined; today more than 5,000 Chinese students, and several thousand more residents, call Pittsburgh home—a number that's expected to keep growing.

The surge in diversity has sparked changes in restaurant kitchens around the city, with Chinese-American and pan-Asian restaurants recruiting Chinese chefs with the help of overseas government agencies, cooking schools, and placement services in New York in order to get cooks with the cultural literacy and specialized skills to serve more regional Chinese cuisine.

Chinese movies Goodbye Mr. Loser (夏洛特烦恼), Coming Home (归来) in Pittsburgh through October 29.

Two Chinese movies---2015's Goodbye Mr. Loser (夏洛特烦恼) and 2014's Coming Home (归来)---will continue their runs in Pittsburgh through October 29.

Chinese filmmaker Xu Xing at Pitt, October 23 and 24.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and Film Studies Program will host Chinese filmmaker Xu Xing on October 23 and 24 for "Asia on Screen: Lost in History or Omitted by It?", the latest installment in this term's "Asia on Screen Series".

On Friday, October 23, at 1:00 pm, the documentary Summary of Crimes (罪行摘要) will play at 121 Lawrence Hall (map):

Xu Xing's documentary searches for a group of peasants from the lowest stratum who were labeled "active counter-revolutionaries" during the Cultural Revolution era (1966-1976). They have been left with no means to recount what they suffered decades before, or to tell what has befallen them since. As the years pass, they have simply been forgotten.

A roundtable discussion with Xu follows at 3:45.

Panelists include Edward M. Gunn (Cornell University), Paola Iovene (University of Chicago), Kun Qian (University of Pittsburgh), Jinying Li (University of Pittsburgh)

On the 24th, a lecture by Xu and a screening of two films in Conference Room A of the University Club (map):

Filmmaker Xu Xing will give a lecture about his journey to documentary filmmaking. A Chronicle of My Cultural Revolution film screening will start at 10:40 am followed by a screening of 5+5 at 2:00 pm.

All events are free and open to the public.

"Bilingual Japanese Product Classification Analyst -- Onsite At Google" position in Pittsburgh.

HCL America has a position available for a Bilingual Japanese Product Classification Analyst position onsite at the Google offices in Larimer / Shadyside. The job posting, via Dice.com:

Vietnam-based The Propeller Group at Carnegie Museum of Art, October 23 through March 21, 2016; Reception and Artist Talk on October 22.

The Carnegie Museum of Art will host The Propeller Group Reception and Artist Talk on Thursday, October 22, the day before the collective's exhibition at the museum begins.

Join Matt Lucero, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, and Phunam Tuc of The Propeller Group for a theatrical screening of their entrancing video The Living Need Light, the Dead Need Music (2014; 21 min.) in the CMOA theater. Following the screening, the artists will discuss their work-and connections between the Vietnamese brass band processionals portrayed in the video and New Orleans jazz funerals-with special guest Dr. Matt Sakakeeny of Tulane University.

The museum's website summarizes The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music, which runs from October 23 through March 21, 2016.

The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music is a spectacular visual and musical journey through the fantastical funerary traditions of South Vietnam.

Created by artist collective The Propeller Group, the video follows brass band musicians, spiritual mediums, professional criers, and street performers through the mournful and euphoric public ceremonies of a multi-day wake: a set of colorful rituals that resonate with funeral traditions in New Orleans and other parts of the “global south.”

Part documentary and part visionary reenactment, the video is a poetic rumination on life, death, and the stages in between. Ultimately, the work speaks across languages and cultures, amplifying a sense of cultural interconnection, and appealing to universal foundations of myth, storytelling, and mourning. Shot in ultra-high definition video, and produced with the technical sophistication of a Hollywood film, it immerses viewers in a lush and captivating dreamlike atmosphere.

The Carnegie Museum of Art is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).

1964 Japanese horror anthology Kwaidan (怪談) at Maridon Museum, October 23.

The Maridon Museum wll show the 1964 horror film Kwaidan (怪談) on October 23 as the third installment in this fall's Japanese film series. A 1965 New York Times review said of it:

"Kwaidan" is a symphony of color and sound that is truly past compare. It is also well acted in a technique of Japanese gestures by a large and orderly cast, the most conspicuous and memorable of whom is Katsuo Nakamura as the blind ballad singer. It is a film that commends itself mainly to those viewers who can appreciate rare subtlety and grace.

The movie starts at 6:00 pm, runs 183 minutes, and is presented by Dr. William Covey of Slippery Rock University. The movies in the series are free and open to the public, though reservations are required and can be made by calling 724-282-0123.

The Maridon, an Asian art museum, is located at 322 North McKean St. in downtown Butler (map), roughly 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.

"Mystical Arts of Tibet" at IUP, October 19 to 26.

Video from a 2011 event at IUP.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania will host "Mystical Arts of Tibet" from October 19 through 26.

From October 19 to October 26, 10 Tibetan monks will be in residence at IUP to construct a sand mandala (representation of the universe), carve a butter sculpture, put on three short performances of Tibetan chanting and dance, and give four lectures.

Visitors may also participate in the community sand art (using the same implements as the monks do when they construct a mandala) make a peace flag, color in mandalas, and help put together mandala puzzles. Unless otherwise noted, all events and activities take place in the HUB Ohio Room. All events are free.

A full schedule is available at the IUP Department of Religious Studies page.